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Reliable Indiegogo campaigners will now get a 'Trust-Proven' badge
Canon is among the first to receive the platform's nod of approval.
Indiegogo will review crowdfunding campaigns before they launch
The company will do more to snuff out scammers and unfeasible projects.
Sony's crowdfunded wrist sensor modulates instruments with gestures
Sony is crowdfunding a motion wristband that can twist the sound of any digital-friendly instrument just by waving your hand.
HAL 9000 replica's crowdfunding project goes bust
A crowdfunding project for a voice-activated HAL 9000 replica has gone bust after the company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Figo's connected sous vide promises to chill, seal and cook your meals
A company called Eat Figo has started crowdfunding for the Figo, an all-in-one connected sous vide that can vacuum-seal, refrigerate and cook your food. The idea is that you can prepare and season your meals, vacuum seal them and drop them into the device in the device ahead of time.
Lenovo's $400 digital picture frame is half-off if you pre-order it
In an unusual move, Lenovo is allowing people to pre-order its upcoming $400 Smart Frame device on Indiegogo. Doing so, you get a 50 percent discount.
JBL says its solar-powered headphones deliver 'unlimited' listening
Wireless headphones are perpetually hamstrung by their batteries. They only last a few hours on a charge, and you're sapping energy from the electrical grid every time you top them up. JBL believes it has an alternative, though, and it's asking for your help to make it a reality. The Harman brand is crowdfunding Reflect Eternal over-ear headphones whose solar power theoretically gives you "virtually unlimited" listening.
Canon is crowdfunding a tiny, rugged clip-on camera
Canon may be late to the clippable camera party, but it's still convinced it can bring something new to the table. The company is preparing a crowdfunding campaign for the Ivy Rec, a clip-on rugged camera that's designed to capture your hikes and other outdoor adventures. The cute-looking device won't win the image quality wars with a 13-megapixel sensor and 1080p 60FPS recording. However, it's built around a tiny water- and shock-resistant design that should be safer to use than your phone in the woods or at the beach.
Cubo AI's baby monitor will alert you if your child's face is covered
There are plenty of smart baby monitors on the market, and some are better than others. Cubo AI is hoping to join the pack with a baby monitor that can alert you if your little one's face is covered. The AI-powered face detection technology could come in useful if your baby rolls onto his or her stomach or is covered by a blanket.
Drone motors make wonderfully grungy synth music
There's no shortage of ways for synthesizers to generate sounds. Generally they rely on one of two tried and true technologies -- analog or digital oscillators. Gamechanger Audio, however, went a completely different route and turned to... motors (hence Motor Synth). These aren't the chaotic, gas-burning engines you'd find in a truck though. These are eight high-precision, brushless motors (like those used in drones).
Creators of social robot Buddy need more money to finally launch
In 2015, Buddy the social robot first appeared on Indiegogo. Nearly four years and $657,000 later, the friendly robotic companion has yet to ship to any of its backers. Now the creators of Buddy, Blue Frog Robotics, are reaching out to backers to apologize for the extended delay and ask for more money to finally bring Buddy to fruition, with the ultimate goal of shipping by April 2020.
FTC sues 'iBackPack' founder for deceiving crowdfunding backers
After a months-long investigation into the practices of the crowdfunding campaign for iBackPack, the Federal Trade Commission announced today that it will sue the company's founder for misusing funds provided by backers. According to the agency, project creator Doug Monahan used much of the more than $800,000 raised via Indiegogo and Kickstarter for personal use, including the purchasing bitcoin, making withdrawals from ATMs and paying off credit cards.
Energizer's giant battery phone reached just 1 percent of its funding goal
Remember the comically enormous phone that Avenir Telecom showed off under the Energizer brand at this year's Mobile World Congress? Its subsequent crowdfunding campaign has crashed and burned, as The Verge points out.
Indiegogo will ban fundraising for anti-vaccination projects
Add Indiegogo to the growing list of internet giants blocking anti-vaccination content. The crowdfunding site told BuzzFeed News it will ban campaigns from anti-vaxxers and others who conduct "health campaigns" unsupported by science. It didn't say when the ban would take effect, but the policy will come in the wake of a recently completed campaign that raised $86,543 for a documentary spreading anti-vaccination myths. Indiegogo will honor that campaign but intends to prevent similar projects from getting started in the future.
The GravaStar is a Bluetooth speaker with robotic charm
It's the aesthetic that grabbed me. Bluetooth speakers have become commonplace, but a desktop spheroid robo-speaker with glowing lights? That's intriguing. Being from a crowd-funded startup does lend itself to a bit of skepticism, but after getting to test the GravaStar by Zoeao, I found that it's no cheap plastic toy. It has a solidly built metal exterior, bright green accent lights, a Qualcomm chipset and Harman Kardon audio components. If the design appeals to you as well, you can pick one up for $129+ on Indiegogo as an early bird backer. And if you get in quick enough, you may even have one in your home before May.
Meizu says its port-free Zero phone was a failed marketing stunt
You may recall that a little over a month ago, Meizu launched a crowdfunding campaign for its futuristic "Zero" port-free smartphone, but at $1,299 a piece (plus that single $2,999 "Exclusive Pioneering Unit"), it comes as no surprise that the overly-ambitious Indiegogo project failed with just 29 backers. Despite the existence of working units, there's no word on the Zero's future at this moment, but in response to a related thread on Meizu's official forum, founder and CEO Jack Wong gave a surprisingly upfront -- if not a little disheartening -- one-liner. "This crowdfunding project was just the marketing team messing about," Wong said, "the holeless phone is just a development project from the R&D department, we never intended to mass-produce this project."
My other life as a Kickstarter scammer
I have the process down to a tee. I start by browsing Kickstarter, looking for projects with active campaigns. There's no specific selection criteria. Perhaps I find one that's just gone live, or one coming to the end of its fundraising window. I reach out with a message, explain who I am and invite the project contact to book in an interview. On the call, I feign interest, ask the right kind of questions and promise a write-up on Engadget in the near future. I leave it a day or two and reach out again, saying I've heard great things from others about a specialist that can increase a project's exposure for a daily fee. A highly unethical move for a journalist, but I set to profit from it, so what do I care? The Engadget article never materializes, of course, because this person isn't me.
Meizu crowdfunds its port-free smartphone on Indiegogo
There's a lot of talk right now about how much is too much for a smartphone in these increasingly tight times. Meizu is hoping that there's enough folks out there with fat wallets to justify splashing out on the Zero, its "holeless smartphone." The company won't just sell you one, however, and has instead slapped the device onto Indiegogo for users to pre-order. The price? $1,299.
The Pix Backpack is a wearable screen for the hypebeast generation
We've seen a couple of attempts at marrying screens with attire to create endlessly customizable fashion, but so far none have actually made it to market. At first glance, the Pix Backpack looks like another one of these intriguing accessories that never escapes the concept stage. The Kickstarter pitch promises a backpack with a retro-aesthetic display you manipulate using -- you guessed it -- a mobile app. The app features a library of images, animations, widgets and even games that populate the low-res color screen, or you can make your own pixel art through a simple editor. The Pix Backpack isn't just a quirky idea destined for the halls of vaporware, though.
Mood-enhancing Auri light packs Alexa smart home control
Wellness-oriented smart lights and scent diffusers have been around for a while. They don't always play nicely with modern smart homes, though, and Ling Technology aims to address that. It's crowdfunding a smart light, Auri, that aims to improve your "mental wellbeing" while integrating with other connected devices. Like you'd expect, it combines colored lighting and sound (through a 36W speaker) in a bid to help you sleep, sharpen your focus or otherwise alter your mood. However, it also makes healthy use of Alexa -- you can play your own music and control the rest of your smart home. You won't need a separate smart speaker for those moments when you aren't looking to calm down.